Huntington Shines at Locust Valley Film Festival
April 12, 2023
Four Huntington High School filmmakers turned heads at the 17th annual Locust Valley Film Festival. The group has been studying video arts with teacher Heather Swan for many years.
Katerina Damiano, Landry Flynn, Riley LaCosta and Danielle Mendikyan were among those participating in this year’s festival, which saw 150 films submitted and 77 chosen for screening. The entries came from a dozen Long Island school districts.
Festival contest categories included animation, comedy, commercial, documentary, drama, music video, public service announcement and trailer.
Ms. Damiano’s short story film was titled “Taking the Wheel.” Ms. Mendikyan’s director inspired film was titled “Angie.” Ms. Flynn’s film noir was titled “Dance with Death.” Ms. LaCosta reality TV show film was titled “Cryptic Kids”
Judges awarded Ms. Damiano first place for Best Drama and third place for Best Cinematography. “Taking the Wheel” can be viewed by clicking on this link: https://youtu.be/CA-qhJ8tZ2E
This marked the second consecutive year that one of Ms. Damiano’s films received the highest honor. “I am so proud of all of the students’ hard work,” Ms. Swan said.
Judges, who possessed industry experience for directing segments for “Sesame Street” and screen credits for “A Beautiful Mind,” “Sex and the City” and “Spin City” joined the students in the Locust Valley auditorium during the school day to watch all of the films.
The Locust Valley High School Parents’ Council provided refreshments outside the auditorium to add to the theater experience.
